Victoria Van Voorhis Delivers Tech Talk at Google on Getting Serious Games into the Classroom
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA-- Victoria Van Voorhis, CEO of Second Avenue Software, spoke at Google on November 3, 2010 about the efficacy of serious games in the K-16 classroom. Games are an effective learning tool— so why aren’t they coming to scale? Blended learning methodologies allow students to focus on innovative question types, and in turn demonstrate their knowledge in deeper ways. Serious games feed into an individual’s intrinsic need to play, express creativity and experiment. Van Voorhis argued that an opportunity exists for successful integration of traditional lesson plans with enhanced educational technology.
As games map to how our brains work, customizable instruction becomes a reality. “When educational opportunities are situated in meaning”, Van Voorhis explains, “content transfer is promoted”. This enables cohesive training across a multitude of skill sets, disciplines, and individual performer levels. Second Avenue Software sees significant potential for improved classroom experiences for students, especially related to the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) disciplines. A video of the talk can be found here. Google’s ongoing Tech Talk series features lectures from notable individuals who work with science and technology. Speakers are invited to share their expertise and opinions on a range of tech-based topics with the Google community.
Second Avenue Software is a certified women-owned new media company in Pittsford, NY that provides content authoring, training services, managed services for learning management systems, custom software development for interactive modules and serious games. Second Avenue offers products and services to clients in publishing, government and Fortune 500 companies including W.W. Norton, Pearson, K12, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. To learn more, visit www.secondavesoftware.com.
As games map to how our brains work, customizable instruction becomes a reality. “When educational opportunities are situated in meaning”, Van Voorhis explains, “content transfer is promoted”. This enables cohesive training across a multitude of skill sets, disciplines, and individual performer levels. Second Avenue Software sees significant potential for improved classroom experiences for students, especially related to the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) disciplines. A video of the talk can be found here. Google’s ongoing Tech Talk series features lectures from notable individuals who work with science and technology. Speakers are invited to share their expertise and opinions on a range of tech-based topics with the Google community.
Second Avenue Software is a certified women-owned new media company in Pittsford, NY that provides content authoring, training services, managed services for learning management systems, custom software development for interactive modules and serious games. Second Avenue offers products and services to clients in publishing, government and Fortune 500 companies including W.W. Norton, Pearson, K12, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. To learn more, visit www.secondavesoftware.com.